JERUSALEM, 7 July 2004 — The head of the UN’s atomic energy agency began a visit to Israel yesterday by playing down prospects of a breakthrough in efforts to persuade the government to reveal its nuclear secrets and rid the Middle East of nuclear weapons.
“I have no illusion that things could happen overnight but I believe that the earlier we start a security dialogue, the better,” Mohammed El-Baradei, the director general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters after his arrival in Tel Aviv.
El-Baradei is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today, but the premier had earlier indicated that Israel’s policy of refusing to confirm or deny that it has nuclear weapons would continue.
Most foreign experts believe that Israel possesses a nuclear arsenal, comprising around 200 warheads, although it has stuck to a policy of “ambiguity” for the last 40 years.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Army shot dead six Palestinians yesterday and an Israeli special forces officer was killed in a gunfight during a raid on Palestinians.
Internal Security Minister Tsachi Hanegbi said he had “no doubt” there were Jewish radicals ready to assassinate Sharon or other top officials to stop the Gaza pullout plan.
Israel’s Parliament held a debate on remarks by Jewish radicals who oppose ceding any land taken in the 1967 war, warning it might incite violence.
Parliament members called for all factions to condemn such remarks, which have led to a tightening of Sharon’s security.
Army commandos raided a residential building in the Ein Beit-Ilma refugee camp in the city of Nablus, killing two senior members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, residents and military sources said.
